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Keywest launches Breeze 2.0 digital signage

Keywest Technology says it is keeping its New Year's resolution by announcing the release of its second-generation Breeze digital signage system.

February 10, 2016

Keywest Technology says it is keeping its New Year's resolution by announcing the release of its second-generation Breeze digital signage system.

The Breeze 2.0 makeover includes over 15 software improvements and enhancements plus hardware updates that address the total digital signage experience. During its year of development, "simplify, simplify, simplify!" became the mantra of Keywest's president and director of technology, Nick Nichols, according to the announcement.

Breeze 2 sports a new media engine that runs entirely on HTML5, meaning that it is PC operating system agnostic, the company said, which opens the doors for Breeze to run on any existing hardware or platform, such as Android, Apple, Linux, Microsoft or embedded system-on-chip.

When viewing the Breeze 2 digital signage editor (i.e. user interface, or UI) for the first time, the announcement said, first-gen Breeze users will immediately notice the absence of the dashboard home page, the navigation panel and static UI graphics. Instead of opening a dashboard screen cluttered with a palette of options, the Breeze 2 UI "gets down to business quickly" with an overview of the editor shaded in the meant-to-be-soothing colors of blue and green. It also uses HTML5 coding that sizes the Breeze UI automatically to the browser's resolution, either on desktops or mobile platforms.

The Breeze 2 user experience is simplified by using only one screen that changes elements as needed with different icon selections, hiding inactivated parts. Keywest said this means no more wait time for new screens to open, no shuffling back and forth between windows, and easier to find playlist management options.

The Breeze 2 playlist options are not only easier to find, but they also have become easier to use, the company said, while another improvement is the enhanced widgets.

"We realize that digital signage connects two very human experiences—and they both must be great," Nichols said in the announcement. "The first experience happens in the UI when the digital signage manager puts together the creative bits into a timeline that creates a compelling short story.

"The second experience happens when digital signage viewers are impacted by the short story because it is eye-catching, relevant and timely, and that just may be worth a pause and second glance — which is an important communication objective. Breeze 2 provides a scalable platform to reach these kinds of communication goals and experiences."